Speaker 1: The following is a production of Dallas Cowboys dot Com
Speaker 1: and the Dallas Cowboys Football Club. This he's Talking Cowboys
Speaker 1: training live from the Dallas Cowboys World Howquarters at the
Speaker 1: Star in Chris Jodday. Hello and welcome to Talking Cowboys
Speaker 1: one on one. I'm HECKM. Harrison, and today, guys, I
Speaker 1: have the awesome opportunity to talk with the guy that
Speaker 1: really needs no introduction. Uh. He is a former Appalachian
Speaker 1: State quarterback, former NFL scout, a co host on on
Speaker 1: NFL Network. Also Man, His podcast is amazing. He and
Speaker 1: Bucky Brooks and moves the sticks. He is a color
Speaker 1: commentator for the San Diego Charges. The one and Only
Speaker 1: Daniel Jeremiah. How are you, DJ? I'm doing great, Heck.
Speaker 1: I appreciate you having me on. Two things. First, h A,
Speaker 1: I love your energy and your smile. It gets pepping
Speaker 1: me up this morning. And then in the background, I
Speaker 1: need the story. First of all, I love the Muhammad
Speaker 1: Ali pick, but I need the story on the on
Speaker 1: the bleachers behind you, the bleacher chairs there, because those
Speaker 1: are pretty dope man. That is from Texas Stadium. I
Speaker 1: was a nice yeah. So once the rubble went down,
Speaker 1: I had to get those man. I pulled those out
Speaker 1: one oh six and one oh seven. Man, So you
Speaker 1: gotta be a Cowboy fan to sit in those chairs.
Speaker 1: So I'm gonna ask you to see if we could
Speaker 1: get you a VIP access over here in these seats.
Speaker 1: All right, I tell you true story, true story as
Speaker 1: we get started here. I grew up a diehard Cowboy fan.
Speaker 1: You know, I grew up in San Diego, but my
Speaker 1: dad would do a lot of the chapels for the
Speaker 1: Charges and for the visiting teams. Or my dad went
Speaker 1: to seminary in Dallas. He went to Dallas Theological Seminary.
Speaker 1: So he used to sell programs at Cowboys games, like
Speaker 1: when he was right out of college. So he had
Speaker 1: been a Cowboy fan from way back. And then the
Speaker 1: Cowboys used to come out there as they do now.
Speaker 1: Spent a lot of time in California, so he developed
Speaker 1: a good relationship with coach Landry at that time. So
Speaker 1: as a kid, we would go down and see that
Speaker 1: the preseason game against the Charges, and we would go
Speaker 1: to the Cowboys practice. So I've been a Cowboy fan
Speaker 1: all growing up. You know. The nineties was when I
Speaker 1: was in high school. So those are fun times. But
Speaker 1: I had never been to Texas Stadium. And I went
Speaker 1: on a trip with my dad and we had a
Speaker 1: layover at DFW and it was a long layover, and
Speaker 1: so I don't ren remember where we're going, but I
Speaker 1: know we had a long layover in my dad said, okay,
Speaker 1: we got off the plane. It was a lot easier,
Speaker 1: like pre nine to eleven at that time to be
Speaker 1: getting in and out of airports. So we've got a cab.
Speaker 1: We went to Texas Stadium. I don't know how there
Speaker 1: was security was not there apparently, because we walked into
Speaker 1: the stadium, walked onto the fifty yard line to the
Speaker 1: star and I remember I was probably like twelve something
Speaker 1: like that, and I just remember how crown the field was.
Speaker 1: I had never seen a field that was that crown.
Speaker 1: You stand in the middle and just look downhill to
Speaker 1: the sidelines, but was So that's the only time that
Speaker 1: I've ever been in there. I've been in the New
Speaker 1: Stadium a bunch with work, but the only time I've
Speaker 1: ever been in Technas Stadium and see those bleachers there
Speaker 1: was when out a long layover DFW as a little kid.
Speaker 1: Oh my god, no, that is crazy, man, That Crown
Speaker 1: was there all the way through the eighties, late eighties
Speaker 1: and early nineties, so that had to be at that time.
Speaker 1: But DJ Man, I really appreciate you for joining me.
Speaker 1: But I gotta ask you, man, how are you and
Speaker 1: your family doing doing all of this COVID nineteen that
Speaker 1: we have going on in America? Yeah, I think you know,
Speaker 1: like all of us, right, we're just hitting in there
Speaker 1: just to a new way of life. We've been able
Speaker 1: to get out a little bit more. I mean, we
Speaker 1: were really cooped up for a very long time, and
Speaker 1: you know, California, like Texas, we've seen you know, spikes.
Speaker 1: So we're very careful wear a mask and social distance
Speaker 1: and we follow all the guidelines. But we've played a
Speaker 1: lot of card games as a family. We've said a
Speaker 1: lot of time together. I tell you what, there's some
Speaker 1: things and I think from a broad standpoint, like for
Speaker 1: football wise, from operations standpoints, outing, and even like personally,
Speaker 1: there are more efficient ways to do things and maybe
Speaker 1: we've done them in the past. And I think once
Speaker 1: we get on the other side of this thing, some
Speaker 1: of the practices we've picked up. I know I have
Speaker 1: like individually work wise as well as the simple things
Speaker 1: like calling ahead for your order and then pull up
Speaker 1: into the parking space and they bring you out your
Speaker 1: food while everybody waits in that long drive through line. Genius.
Speaker 1: So I'm trying to find some positives that we can
Speaker 1: take out of this when this is all over. How
Speaker 1: are you? How are you going? By the way, man, Man, Man, hey,
Speaker 1: I'm the same. I'm the Juno champion in my household,
Speaker 1: so crownding myself. So this a lot of card game,
Speaker 1: card games, board games, all of that going on over here.
Speaker 1: But with the time that I have with you, man,
Speaker 1: I want to get right into a DJ and so
Speaker 1: I'm going to ask you to play Roger Goodell. You
Speaker 1: are the commissioner of the NFL. Right now, you feel
Speaker 1: richer right right now? I say that you're so with
Speaker 1: everything that's going on with COVID nineteen and everyone is
Speaker 1: waiting to hear what this season is going to be like.
Speaker 1: And again I'm asking you to play Roger Goodale. So
Speaker 1: you're going down into your Roger Goodale bunker and about
Speaker 1: to see your lazy boy, and you're thinking to yourself self,
Speaker 1: I'm a genius. I'm the leader of the largest one
Speaker 1: of the largest leagues in the world. Are you thinking
Speaker 1: that you're going to delay the NFL the start of
Speaker 1: the NFL season because of the of COVID nineteen or
Speaker 1: go forward and take examples from MLB and NBA and
Speaker 1: if someone comes down with it, we'll just isolate quarantine
Speaker 1: things like that. What do you think this season is
Speaker 1: going to look like and what's going to be the
Speaker 1: best way to go through a season start to finish. Well,
Speaker 1: He's got so many decisions he's got to make, and
Speaker 1: that's a lot of weight on his shoulders when you
Speaker 1: think about the obviously start with the safety of everybody
Speaker 1: involved at the very top of the list, and then
Speaker 1: you also have the finances involved for everybody that's in
Speaker 1: the league and associated with the league. So that's a
Speaker 1: lot of responsibility on his on his plate. I mean,
Speaker 1: look me personally, I know there's been some talk about out,
Speaker 1: you know, going we're going down to two preseason games,
Speaker 1: and now there's talk players association. You know, I would
Speaker 1: prefer if we had no preseason games, and to be
Speaker 1: honest with yeah, I'm okay with that. Whatever gets us
Speaker 1: to week one safely that we can launch this thing
Speaker 1: and get it started like that's the first phase is
Speaker 1: can we get this thing up? Um. So once you
Speaker 1: can get it up, now we worry about how do
Speaker 1: we maintain it going forward. But I think that's the
Speaker 1: first place I would start. And you know, I you know,
Speaker 1: in a normal year, having you know, two three preseason games,
Speaker 1: I think it is beneficial for was probably a bit much.
Speaker 1: But in this special, unique circumstance, man, let's just get
Speaker 1: to week one. If you come to come to training
Speaker 1: camp with you know, say eighty players, limit that number
Speaker 1: down a little bit to say eighty Um, no preseason games.
Speaker 1: You just gotta get yourself ready to go. Allow for
Speaker 1: the fact that it's a sixteen games season. You know,
Speaker 1: you can you can afford to adjust a little bit
Speaker 1: in the first quarter of the season, then find your
Speaker 1: stride and still have a chance to accomplish all your goals.
Speaker 1: So that would be the area that I was going
Speaker 1: and then have the plan in place that once, um,
Speaker 1: you know, once we do have you know, the pose
Speaker 1: of tests are inevitable. They're going to happen. Is those
Speaker 1: proper protocols you negotiate with the players Association so we
Speaker 1: can take care of these guys. But I'm optimistic if
Speaker 1: we can get to the first part of it, which
Speaker 1: is get the thing going right, get us up to
Speaker 1: week one, that we can make the adjustments as we
Speaker 1: go along to get through a season. Yeah. Now, look, man,
Speaker 1: I am I told you before in our introductions. Man,
Speaker 1: I'm a big fan of yours. I followed a lot
Speaker 1: of your podcasts, and I want to ask you Mike
Speaker 1: McCarthy question. And you know, as Mike McCarthy's basically at
Speaker 1: Green Bay, he had one hundred percent of his playbook
Speaker 1: at his disposal because of Aaron Rodgers. Now he's in Dallas.
Speaker 1: He has a young quarterback, well fifty year quarterback and
Speaker 1: Dak Prescott. I've heard you make a lot about twelve personnel,
Speaker 1: and you know, Mike McCarthy loves of love and personnel
Speaker 1: and he can do a lot out of twelve as well.
Speaker 1: But you talked about those teams that have had success,
Speaker 1: and these are some of your upper echelon teams like
Speaker 1: the forty nine ers and the Vikings that played that
Speaker 1: big boy Bawling. We have a running back that is
Speaker 1: ball control personify, right, And so when you look at
Speaker 1: Mike McCarthy and just basically the learning curve with him
Speaker 1: and Dak Prescott sending him Obviously with the contract, he's
Speaker 1: going to be in the upper one of those quarterbacks
Speaker 1: as far as his contract, but as far as playmaking ability,
Speaker 1: how does Mike McCarthy fee and grow Dak Prescott from
Speaker 1: where he is right now? Well, you know, I think,
Speaker 1: you know, we talk about the importance of twelve personnel
Speaker 1: and the shift the league has made a lot of
Speaker 1: those top offenses are utilizing that. Well. The Cowboys, you know,
Speaker 1: even as a different coaching staff, offensively move the ball
Speaker 1: as well as anybody last year. And I think when
Speaker 1: you look at the addition of Ceedee Lamb, they're kind
Speaker 1: of built as an eleven personnel team and they're gonna
Speaker 1: be able to spread you out and then let Zeke
Speaker 1: take advantage of some of those lighter boxes because of
Speaker 1: the weapons that you have on the outside. So I'd
Speaker 1: anticipate we'll see more of that. But I'm fascinating, you know,
Speaker 1: Mike McCarthy. We just think of the offense that he ran,
Speaker 1: you know, in Green Bay and going back to the Niners,
Speaker 1: having the time off that he did to study trends,
Speaker 1: to study the college game as well, you know, as
Speaker 1: the unique skill set that Dak brings to the table.
Speaker 1: You know, Dak and Aaron Rodgers, they're both athletic, but
Speaker 1: Dak what he can do as a runner is on
Speaker 1: a whole other level. And so I'm curious to see
Speaker 1: how much quarterback run game they're going to incorporate into
Speaker 1: this offense, because you won't find a better backfield in
Speaker 1: terms of the combination with Zeke and Dak in terms
Speaker 1: of the size and the power to be able to
Speaker 1: do what they want to do and the durability to
Speaker 1: hold up to some of that. So that, to me
Speaker 1: is what I'm fascinated to see, is do we see
Speaker 1: the exact same offense we saw in Green Bay? Are
Speaker 1: we going to see some some new additions and a
Speaker 1: newer version as some of the things he learned during
Speaker 1: his time off Absolutely Now with one of the stronger
Speaker 1: parts of our team has been for years, our offensive line.
Speaker 1: I mean, we have p pro bowler all the way
Speaker 1: across now with the retirement of Travis Fredericks, which us
Speaker 1: all off guard for this dreadful disease, but we wish
Speaker 1: him nothing but the best in his retirement. Now we
Speaker 1: enterest Joe Looney who's had an opportu the need to
Speaker 1: step in for Frederick in the past. However, in the
Speaker 1: draft we go in and we get in the fourth
Speaker 1: round a guy by the name of Tyler Beatis from
Speaker 1: Wisconsin and All American, all World guy. Also at left
Speaker 1: guard we have Connor Williams and Connor McGovern, a guy
Speaker 1: from Penn State that missed all of last year because
Speaker 1: of a peck injury. Now, aside from Tyler Badish Beardish,
Speaker 1: all of these positions are interchangeable Week one, starting five
Speaker 1: for the Dallas Cowboys. Obviously your usual suspect and left guard,
Speaker 1: right guard and right tackle. Who do you sing me
Speaker 1: it's gonna start for the Dallas Cowboys at center and
Speaker 1: at guard. Yeah, I think you're gonna see Looney and
Speaker 1: I think you'll see Counor Williams. I mean that to me.
Speaker 1: I think you start with just have an experience and
Speaker 1: you're in a new system. I think that that veteran
Speaker 1: group right there with those guys, I think that's where
Speaker 1: you start, and we'll see what Beotist can do as
Speaker 1: he gets adjusted to the NFL game. I know they
Speaker 1: love to pound the rock and you saw that in
Speaker 1: college with him him and you saw him move people.
Speaker 1: But I thought past protection, there's still some room for
Speaker 1: growth for him and to develop. So you know, look,
Speaker 1: it's the NFL. As much as the Cowboys, as good
Speaker 1: as they are running the football, it's still you're gonna
Speaker 1: put the ball up a lot, and there's still some
Speaker 1: development for him there in the passing game. So I
Speaker 1: think I would trust the guys that have been there
Speaker 1: a little bit, and then with McGovern and be honest,
Speaker 1: you kind of let's let's get them up to speed
Speaker 1: because in any year you need depth on the offensive line. Now,
Speaker 1: when you start thinking about potentially what could happen if
Speaker 1: you get a positive test and guys have to sit down,
Speaker 1: you're gonna need to come into the season with nine
Speaker 1: guys that are gonna be able to roll through and
Speaker 1: play eventually at some point in time. So we'll see him,
Speaker 1: We're gonna see all those guys, but that would be
Speaker 1: the five I would start out with. All right, that's
Speaker 1: an answer I was looking for it. Man. Now move
Speaker 1: the sticks with you and Bucky. I want to tell
Speaker 1: you I have you guys. I get alerts every time
Speaker 1: you post a podcast, and I promise you I've already been.
Speaker 1: I've already been a guest on the podcast with you
Speaker 1: yelling from my car. But you know, when I look
Speaker 1: at it and I'm just wanting to go on the
Speaker 1: other side out of the ball with the Cowboys defense.
Speaker 1: And look, we had a big loss and free agency
Speaker 1: with Byron Jones leaving Fort Miami, right, but executive VP
Speaker 1: Steven Jones and also Will McClay go into the draft
Speaker 1: and they get a guy that you have ranked in
Speaker 1: the second round and Andrey blond Dix. But I believe
Speaker 1: that we got a absolute still in the fourth round
Speaker 1: and Rensie Robinson out of Tulsa. I know you have
Speaker 1: a lot of great things to say about him, and
Speaker 1: obviously income and Mike Nolan and the and being the
Speaker 1: new DC. How do you see these rookies making that
Speaker 1: impact for the Dallas Cowboys secondary. Well, I think when
Speaker 1: you talk about dbs that can come in and make
Speaker 1: an impact, you talk about guys that can get nose
Speaker 1: to nose and play man. You know, because as you're
Speaker 1: adjusting the schemes and coverages and adjustments that can take
Speaker 1: some time to get comfortable. And with the limited offseason,
Speaker 1: you know that's that can be a little bit of
Speaker 1: a challenge. But when you're talking about guys that go
Speaker 1: nose to nose, and that's what Reggie Robinson can do.
Speaker 1: I mean, he's got the size, he's got the length
Speaker 1: of speed. To me, he's somebody that would just outstanding
Speaker 1: ball skills. So there's a lot that he can bring
Speaker 1: to the table, and I think he will have a
Speaker 1: chance to get on the field relatively early. I'll make
Speaker 1: sure to see that competition between those guys with him
Speaker 1: at Diggs. You know, Diggs is Diggs is Again you
Speaker 1: talk about somebody can get nose to nose and do
Speaker 1: all those things in press coverage. Absolutely, I think Robins
Speaker 1: has a little more upside than Diggs, even though he
Speaker 1: was selected later. So that's one of those deals where
Speaker 1: I think somebody's picked higher and everybody just assumes at
Speaker 1: that position and that role is going to go to
Speaker 1: him early on. I wouldn't write Robinson out of that
Speaker 1: just yet. I make sure to see those guys battle
Speaker 1: it out. Now. I gotta ask you, man, as far
Speaker 1: as Diggs and Robinson, who do you believe has the
Speaker 1: longer NFL career between the two? Well, I mean, that's
Speaker 1: it's tough to say, at this point in time, obviously
Speaker 1: with Digs, you look at the pedigree, you know, with
Speaker 1: the family, you look at playing at a high level
Speaker 1: at the top program in the country in Alabama. That's
Speaker 1: you know. I just think if you're saying what's the
Speaker 1: safer pick, probably Digs. But if you're saying who has
Speaker 1: the most upside, I might even lean towards Robinson on
Speaker 1: that and just that he has a little bit more
Speaker 1: that he can achieve. He's gotten further distance to travel
Speaker 1: to get there. But I think that could be a
Speaker 1: pair we talk about this guy or that guy, that
Speaker 1: couldn't be a combination where that's your starting corners um
Speaker 1: in the future for this team for a long time. Yeah, DJ,
Speaker 1: I believe that Robinson, had he gone to a Power
Speaker 1: five school, he would going a lot higher in the
Speaker 1: traff But look, this is now, we've gotten to the
Speaker 1: end of this man. We can kind of let our
Speaker 1: hair down a little bit. And I got well, you
Speaker 1: can let your hair. You got more. You got some
Speaker 1: beer going there by the way, mustache. It lasted for
Speaker 1: twenty four hours and they got shut down. Executive decision.
Speaker 1: Hey look it looked good, man, You look like a
Speaker 1: guy that gets Hey, you look like a guy that
Speaker 1: still gets id at the store anyway, So it kind
Speaker 1: of gave you that Latin love or look. Bro. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it was. It was not a good situation. It was
Speaker 1: not a good like when the kids. When you've got
Speaker 1: one daughter calling you the skinny Paul Blart, and you've
Speaker 1: got another daughter, you know, calling you Mario from the
Speaker 1: Mario Brothers. It's not It's not a great place to start.
Speaker 1: So we had we had to send him packing last night.
Speaker 1: Paul Blart. Yeah, they had to get it cut off
Speaker 1: real quick. Right now, I got to ask you. I
Speaker 1: gotta ask you some. I gotta ask you some. This
Speaker 1: is my favorite part, man, I rapid fire questions. Now.
Speaker 1: I know that you are a big time baseball fan,
Speaker 1: right yeah, I've done my homework. I know you're a
Speaker 1: baseball guy. The top of the ninth in in the
Speaker 1: bullpen opens, you got one guy to come through that door.
Speaker 1: I got two names for you. Yeah, Mariano Rivera are
Speaker 1: a rich Goose gossage O. I would take Goose just
Speaker 1: because I'm a Padre fan, but I would I would
Speaker 1: try and summon. I would see if they're where's Trevor
Speaker 1: Hoffman at us. He just he's got to be back
Speaker 1: of that bullpen somewhere. That's my guy. Give me and
Speaker 1: get Hell's bells comes. I mean, like people think about Entrance,
Speaker 1: you know Entrance music. Now it's like no big deal
Speaker 1: and everybody has it. He was like the dude that
Speaker 1: was the one, like nobody had that. He did it.
Speaker 1: And then I think after that, Mariono Rivera started coming
Speaker 1: out with Sandman or whatever. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, but no
Speaker 1: so Hoffman. I mean when you think about the old
Speaker 1: Jack Murphy Stadium, the old Qualcomm Stadium was a football
Speaker 1: stadium where they played baseball basically, and they'd have big
Speaker 1: games in the playoffs. You'd have you know, seventy five
Speaker 1: thousand people and they're for a baseball game, and then
Speaker 1: you'd hear that, you just hear the gung and the
Speaker 1: whole place would just go nuts. Yeah. Fun times. Absolutely. Now.
Speaker 1: I know you had an opportunity to see a lot
Speaker 1: of NFL stadiums, and I want to ask you about
Speaker 1: if you would rank these as the worst stadiums, and okay,
Speaker 1: two stadiums in particular, Oakland Coliseum or the VET in Philadelphia. YEP,
Speaker 1: I would say I've been in both. Just I would
Speaker 1: say Oakland's worse because it's more recent in my memory
Speaker 1: having gone up there. It's just there's leaks everywhere, like
Speaker 1: it was not a good situation. Then you see the
Speaker 1: palace they're moving into in Vegas. It's gonna be nice
Speaker 1: out there. That's a big win for us calling Charger
Speaker 1: games to head to Vegas for that one instead of
Speaker 1: to the coliseum in Oakland. Absolute upgrade right there. Now,
Speaker 1: I gotta ask you, flower of corn tortillas, corn all
Speaker 1: day long, Corn of flower never waits. That is crazy
Speaker 1: corn all day long. All right, I got a name
Speaker 1: for you. What comes to mind? I say this name
Speaker 1: Chris Mortenson, Oh mentor friend us, He's the best. That
Speaker 1: would be what I would say about Mark the best.
Speaker 1: All right. Now, final final question. I'm gonna put you
Speaker 1: into Michael J. Fox de Lorean from Back to the Future.
Speaker 1: Oh nice, okay, And I'm gonna ask you what were
Speaker 1: you doing on September twenty fifth, nineteen ninety four. September
Speaker 1: twenty fifth, nineteen ninety four, I would have been June.
Speaker 1: I would have been a junior in high school. Probably,
Speaker 1: I don't know what day of the week that was
Speaker 1: but high school football during that time. What's going on
Speaker 1: September twenty fifth. Oh, you just went for two hundred
Speaker 1: and fifteen yards and a cutch couple, a couple of tubs,
Speaker 1: you know, just doing it, easy work. Uh, therefore as
Speaker 1: an alcohol Christian beating. Yeah, man, how did you see?
Speaker 1: I gotta do my homework. And the thing is, I
Speaker 1: may be new, I may be new to this business,
Speaker 1: but I realized you never give away your sources. Right.
Speaker 1: That's good work right there. Heck, that's fantastic. That was
Speaker 1: Brethren Christian. That team they had, they had a player
Speaker 1: by name of Reggie Davis who was a line He
Speaker 1: was a quarterback in a linebacker. He went on to
Speaker 1: play the University of Washington and then played the National
Speaker 1: Football League for several years. But yeah, they were They
Speaker 1: were very athletic. It was a good team. Yeah. I
Speaker 1: told you I'm gonna put you in the deloring and
Speaker 1: I went against the time to see and for the deloring.
Speaker 1: I figured you relate to that. But DJ, thank you
Speaker 1: so much for joining me. Thank you so much for
Speaker 1: this opportunity. Man. I'll tell you what anytime, man, I
Speaker 1: really enjoyed it. I loved everything about it, from your
Speaker 1: background to your bleacher, to your questions to your research.
Speaker 1: It was awesome, all right man. Well, look, thank you
Speaker 1: so much for sitting down with me. I hope to
Speaker 1: get an opportunity to speak to you in the future.
Speaker 1: If you want to read any articles on DJ please
Speaker 1: go to NFL dot com. I do recommend that you
Speaker 1: subscribe to as podcast with Bucky Brooks and that's moved
Speaker 1: the sticks on Apple again, thank you so much for
Speaker 1: joining us. I'm HECKM. Harrison and thank you for joining
Speaker 1: Talking Cowboys.